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Gai Assulin

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Gai Assulin
Assulin with Barcelona in 2009
Personal information
Full name Gai Yigaal Assulin[1]
Date of birth (1991-04-09) 9 April 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth Nahariya, Israel
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Winger, attacking midfielder
Youth career
1997–1999 Hapoel Haifa
1999–2003 Beitar Nes Tubruk
2003–2007 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2010 Barcelona B 67 (13)
2009–2010 Barcelona 0 (0)
2010–2012 Manchester City 0 (0)
2012 → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 7 (0)
2012–2013 Racing Santander 25 (3)
2013–2014 Granada 0 (0)
2013–2014 Mallorca 32 (3)
2014–2015 Hapoel Tel Aviv 6 (0)
2015–2016 Sabadell (0)
2018 Kairat 6 (0)
2019–2021 Politehnica Iași 14 (2)
2021 Crema
International career
2008–2013 Israel U21 22 (0)
2008 Israel 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 February 2021

Gai Yigaal Assulin (Hebrew: גיא יגאל אסולין; born 9 April 1991) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder. He last played for Serie D club Crema.

As a teenager, he was registered at Barcelona and Manchester City, but did not make a league appearance for either team. He subsequently became a journeyman, spending short spells at a variety of teams mostly in Spain.

Assulin was capped 22 times by the Israel national under-21 team and once in 2008 by the senior team, becoming their youngest player of all-time.

Early life

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Assulin was born in Nahariya, Israel. He started his career in the football school of Hapoel Haifa.[3] In 1999, at age seven, he moved to the Beitar Tubruk youth ranks. In 2003, when he was just 12, Shlomo Scharf, his team coach, proposed to Assulin's parents to consider taking their young prospect to try out for FC Barcelona, where he was accepted into the youth ranks.

Club career

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Barcelona

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In August 2007, Assulin graduated to the FC Barcelona B team,[4] and was offered a new contract, a senior contract (a contract granted only after the player turns 16) for another three years and a €20 million buy-out clause. At the end of the 2007–08 season, Barcelona B won the league title with 83 points, and the manager, Pep Guardiola, was promoted to the job of senior team manager.[5] Assulin was rumored to be one of the players that Guardiola would promote to the first team.[6]

After missing most of the 2008–09 season due to injury, Assulin received an invitation to participate in pre-season matches with the Barcelona first team.[7] He made his debut first-team start in a competitive match of the Copa del Rey against Cultural Leonesa on 28 October 2009, before being replaced by Eric Abidal after 56 minutes.[8] Due to the lengthy 2009–10 season, many Barcelona players were given breaks towards the end of the year, so on 29 December 2009 Guardiola brought in Assulin and his teammates Víctor Vázquez, Thiago Alcântara and Jonathan dos Santos.

On 1 July 2010, Assulin and Barcelona parted ways by mutual consent.[9] They offered him a three-year contract but as they could not offer him a guaranteed first-team squad position and instead sought to develop him at Barcelona B, he refused the offer. Assulin also had a complicated relationship with the manager of Barcelona B, Luis Enrique.[10]

Manchester City

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On 14 December 2010, Assulin joined Premier League club Manchester City on a two-and-a-half-year deal. He spoke of his wishes to partner his former Barcelona teammate Yaya Touré at the club.[11]

The early part of 2011 saw Assulin make his City Reserve squad debut against Newcastle United, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 5–1 win.[12][13]

On 17 November 2011, Assulin declared that he was prepared to be loaned out from Manchester City in order to receive first-team action. He had so far failed to receive a call-up from first-team manager Roberto Mancini but was too old to play in the inaugural under-19 NextGen series with the City Elite Development Squad, restricting him to playing occasionally for the Reserves. Assulin said: "I need confidence and I can only get that by playing regularly. City and I both feel that I should go out on loan so I can play every week. I could stay in England or maybe join a team in the Spanish second division".[14] Six days later, Championship side Barnsley announced that they had agreed a loan deal until 3 January 2012,[15] with their manager Keith Hill saying that he was impressed by his performance for Israel under-21 against England at the club's Oakwell ground that September.[16][17] After fitness issues came up, the deal collapsed.[18][19]

On 9 February 2012, Assulin scored for the Manchester City Elite Development Squad in their 4–2 derby win over rivals Manchester United. He entered the Manchester Senior Cup tie at half-time as a substitute for Denis Suárez, and scored their 2–2 equaliser in the 65th minute and he also assisted for the fourth goal in stoppage time.[20]

Eight days later, Assulin, along with fellow City youngster Abdul Razak, joined Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion on an initial one-month loan until 19 March, but with the option to extend this by two months.[21] Manager Gustavo Poyet described the loan move for Assulin as a "no-brainer" and a "unique opportunity."[22] Assulin made his Brighton debut on 22 February against Hull City, coming on as a substitute for Razak in the 77th minute of their 0–0 draw.[23] He made his first start against Cardiff City on 7 March and was substituted after 59 minutes of a 2–2 home draw.[24] On 19 March, after one start and three substitute appearances, Brighton exercised their option to extend Assulin's loan deal until the end of the season.[25]

Assulin was released from Manchester City on 22 May 2012, alongside Owen Hargreaves.[26]

Later career

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On 11 July 2012, Assulin signed a one-year deal with recently relegated Racing de Santander.[27] Six days later, he was introduced as a player in a press conference.[28] On the opening game of the season on 19 August, he made his debut in a 1–0 loss against Las Palmas; he soon scored his first goal, on 15 September, in a 3–0 win over Recreativo de Huelva, giving the club their first win of the campaign.

On 5 July 2013, Assulin signed a three-year deal with Granada CF,[29] being immediately loaned to Segunda División's Hércules CF in a season-long deal. He appeared regularly for the Valencian outfit, which were relegated after finishing dead last. In his second game, a goalless draw at CD Tenerife on 25 August, he was sent off for kicking out at Carlos Ruiz.[30]

On 15 August 2014, Assulin signed a two-year deal with RCD Mallorca, also in the second level.[31]

In October 2015, free agent Assulin trialled with Rangers of the Scottish Championship;[32] Manager Mark Warburton was not sufficiently impressed to offer him a contract.[33] After a brief spell at Hapoel Tel Aviv – his first experience of the Israeli Premier League – he went back to Spain to sign for CE Sabadell FC in the third tier on 10 August 2016.[34] He departed the Catalan club in January 2018 after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.[35]

On 13 February 2018, Kazakhstan Premier League side FC Kairat announced the signing of Assulin on a two-year contract.[36] On 30 March, it was cancelled by mutual consent.[37]

On 26 September 2019, Assulin signed a two-year contract with Liga I club Politehnica Iași.[38]

On 13 February 2021, he was announced as a new player for Italy's Serie D club Crema.[39] He left the club by the end of the season.

International career

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Assulin was called up by the Israel national team for their friendly match against Chile on March 26, 2008. He debuted for Israel as a substitute in the 78th minute of the friendly, 14 days before his 17th birthday.[40] By playing in this match, he broke Ben Sahar's record for youngest national team debut by 195 days.[41] He went on to represent the Israeli under-21 national team in preparation at the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, hosted in the country.

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 11 March 2018[42][43]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Barcelona B 2007–08 Tercera División 22 10 – – – – 0 0
2008–09 Segunda División B 20 1 – – – – 0 0
2009–10 25 2 – – – – 0 0
Total 67 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 67 13
Barcelona 2009–10 La Liga 0 0 1 0 – 0 0 0 0 1 0
Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 2011–12 Championship 7 0 0 0 0 0 – – 7 0
Racing de Santander 2012–13 Segunda División 26 3 0 0 – – – 26 3
Hércules (loan) 2013–14 Segunda División 32 3 2 0 – – – 34 3
Mallorca 2013–14 Segunda División 6 0 1 0 – – – 7 0
Hapoel Tel Aviv 2015–16 Israeli Premier League 7 0 1 0 0 0 – – 8 0
Sabadell 2016–17 Segunda División 18 2 0 0 – – – 18 2
2017–18 8 1 0 0 – – – 8 1
Total 26 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 26 3
Kairat 2018 Kazakhstan Premier League 1 0 0 0 – 0 0 1 0 2 0
Career total 172 22 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 177 22

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "ASSULIN (Gai Yigaal Assulin)". Football Database. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Israel - G. Assulin - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com.
  3. ^ "מסי, מאחוריך: הכירו את כוכבי העתיד של ברצלונה". One.co.il. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  4. ^ "18-year-old Israeli wunderkind takes his debut with Barcelona in stride". Haaretz. 26 July 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
  5. ^ "Pep Guardiola pays tribute to Frank Rijkaard". The Times. 12 May 2008. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  6. ^ גיא אסולין וברצלונה ב' זכו באליפות (in Hebrew). One.co.il. 18 May 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2008.
  7. ^ "Muniesa, Thiago and Assulin to start pre-season in London". Fcbarcelonanews.com. 25 June 2009. Archived from the original on 27 June 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  8. ^ "Cultural Leonesa 0, Barça 2, a.k.a. "Pedrito to the rescue (again)!" – The Offside". Barcelona.theoffside.com. 29 October 2009. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  9. ^ "Gai Assulin released by Barcelona". Goal. 2 July 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
  10. ^ "From penthouse to outhouse". Haaretz. 28 July 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
  11. ^ "Israeli midfielder joins Man City after Barcelona exit". BBC Sport. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  12. ^ News, Manchester Evening (27 January 2011). "John Guidetti scores hat-trick, Gai Assulin makes debut in City EDS romp". men. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  13. ^ "Gai Assulin predicting big things for Manchester City". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 3 February 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
  14. ^ "Assulin on the move". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  15. ^ "Gai Assulin to sign on loan for the Reds". barnsleyfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 November 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  16. ^ "Hill has high hopes for Assulin's Oakwell stint". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  17. ^ "Reds close in on Gai". The Star. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  18. ^ "Injury puts Assulin deal on hold". barnsleyfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 November 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  19. ^ "Why should I feel sorry for Grayson? – Hill". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
  20. ^ "Match report Man United 2 Manchester City 4 Manchester Senior Cup 9 February 2012". mcfc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
  21. ^ "Albion Sign Man City Duo". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. 17 February 2012. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  22. ^ "Gus: Loan deal was a no brainer". The Argus. 18 February 2012. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  23. ^ "Assulin pushes for wing role". The Argus. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  24. ^ "Brighton 2 Cardiff City 2: match report". The Telegraph. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  25. ^ "Assulin loan deal extended". Manchester City FC. 19 March 2012. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  26. ^ "G-Owen: Manchester City release Owen Hargreaves and Gai Assulin". Mirror. 22 May 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  27. ^ Assulin y Longás, nuevos refuerzos para el Racing (Assulin and Longás, new signings for Racing); Racing's official website, 11 July 2012 (in Spanish)
  28. ^ "Assulin presented at Santander, President: high level player" [אסולין הוצג בסנטאנדר, הנשיא: שחקן ברמה גבוהה] (in Hebrew). One.co.il. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  29. ^ Assulin ficha por el Granada CF (Assulin signs for Granada CF) Archived 19 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine; Granada's official website, 5 July 2013 (in Spanish)
  30. ^ "El Tenerife deja escapar vivo a un Hércules herido" [Tenerife let an injured Hércules get out alive] (in Spanish). Marca. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  31. ^ Gai Assulin firma con el Mallorca (Gai Assulin signs with Mallorca) Archived 19 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine; Mallorca's official website, 15 August 2014 (in Spanish)
  32. ^ "Former Manchester City and Barcelona starlet Gai Assulin training with Rangers". Daily Record. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  33. ^ Nash, Matthew (1 November 2015). "Mark Warburton confirms Rangers will not be signing Gai Assulin". HITC. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  34. ^ "Gai Assulin busca relanzar su carrera en el Sabadell" [Gai Assulin looks to relaunch his career at Sabadell] (in Spanish). Sport. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  35. ^ "Gai Assulin es desvincula" [Gai Assulin departs] (in Catalan). CE Sabadell. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  36. ^ Гай Ассулин – новичок ФК Кайрат. fckairat.com (in Russian). FC Kairat. 13 February 2018. Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  37. ^ Спасибо, Гай!. fckairat.com (in Russian). FC Kairat. 30 March 2018. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  38. ^ "Gai Assulin a semnat până în 2021 cu Politehnica" (in Romanian). Politehnica Iași. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.[permanent dead link]
  39. ^ "UFFICIALE - Crema, colpo straordinario: firma l'ex canterano di Barcellona e Manchester City, Gai Assulin" (in Italian). Tutto Serie D. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  40. ^ שמרו על התואר (in Hebrew). Nana.co.il. 26 March 2008. Archived from the original on 29 March 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2008.
  41. ^ Sinai, Allon (26 March 2008). "Assulin to make debut against Chile". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2008.
  42. ^ "G.Assulin". soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  43. ^ "Gai Yigaal Assulin Hazan". bdfutbol.com. BDFutbol. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
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